Adventurer dies trying to cross Greenland ice cap

LONDON (AP) — A 37-year-old British adventurer has died and two others with him suffered frostbite injuries as they tried to cross Greenland's ice cap on a charity hike, officials said Wednesday.

The British Foreign Office said Philip Goodeve-Docker died and two others on the trek remained hospitalized.

On Friday, the three-man expedition got caught by a strong cold wind that sweeps across the eastern part of the vast icecap, according to Poul Petersen, a spokesman for the police in Greenland. A rescue helicopter was not able to reach the men until Saturday because of the bad weather and by that time Goodeve-Docker was dead, he said.

The survivors were flown to Britain via Iceland after first being treated at a hospital in Tasiilaq on Greenland's east coast, 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of the Arctic Circle, Petersen said. Goodeve-Docker's body was being sent later to Britain, he said.

Goodeve-Docker embarked on the trip to raise money for charity in honor of his grandfather who died two years ago.

On his website, he described the up to 600-kilometer (370-mile) trek as one of the great polar challenges and said its dangers could include polar bears, strong winds, crevasses up to 500 meters (1,650 feet) and temperatures as low as minus 50 Celsius (minus 58 Fahrenheit).